Tatsuki X Ichigo
by AvatarfanDillonKurosaki
Summary: After years of strained friendship, Tatsuki finally confronts him and now, realizes her feelings for him. Will there be a happy ending? Read and find out. Please review. T for swearing.
1. Chapter 1

**Bleach: Ichigo X Tatsuki  
Chapter 1**

Ichigo stood silently in the street where Rukia had just faded before his eyes only a few weeks before, as he lost his powers. He reached up with his free hand and scratched his rough face, his short facial hair like sandpaper against his hand. He felt the slightly chilly breeze against his skin as he stood in only his t-shirt and blue jeans, his hand in his pocket. He closed his eye and laughed, softly, to himself.

 _"I just wanted to be normal,"_ he thought as he looked up at the sky above him. _"Now that I am, all that I want is to be something more. How pathetic of me."_

As he stood lost in his own thoughts, he felt the uneasy sensation of being watched. He broke from his trance and began to look around for the source of his uneasiness. He felt the prying eyes boring into him, but, for the life of him, he couldn't find the source. As he looked around one more time, he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see Tatsuki in a jacket and heavier pants walking up to him. He saw the look of recognition on her face as she approached him and he turned his back to her, standing silently where he was.

"Hey," she said, softly, stopping next to him and looking at him. "What are you doing out here without a jacket or something? You'll catch a cold, ya dumbass."

"Nothing," he said, coldly, closing his eyes and turning away from her. "Why do you care?"

"I don't," she scoffed, turning her back to him and crossing her arms. "But Orihime would be upset if you were to get sick and she'd worry about you. So, if not for your own sake, then for hers, go get something warm on."

"Yeah, yeah," he said, annoyed as he waved his hand at her, dismissively over his shoulder. "Just go home or something. What are you even doing around this side of town, anyway? The dojo's nowhere near here and you don't live this way either, nor does anyone I've seen you hang out with, so there's no real reason for you to be out this way."

"Can't a girl just go for a damned walk without people wanting to know her life story?" she said, her anger boiling up as she clenched her fists. "Besides, how do you know none of my friends live around here? You don't know all of my friends, clearly."

Ichigo rolled his eyes before turning and walking back towards his house.

"Alright," he said, resigning the fight, before he left. "Have a good walk or whatever. I'm going home."

With a wave over his shoulder, he continued back to his house, the uneasy sensation of being watched long forgotten due to his conversation with Tatsuki.

As he walked away, Tatsuki turned her back and began walking, again. As she continued she made a circle around the block and was now headed back the way she'd come, just on the other side of the block. She watched the river flowing by, walking back to her house, all the way across town. As she walked alongside the river, she felt the memories of years ago flooding through her mind:

********BLEACH*********

Tatsuki Arisawa had just finished sparring with the pathetic little wimpy strawberry and was so proud she'd beaten him, throwing her hands in the air in her victory. She watched as the boy cried aloud, before, suddenly, his mother walked in the door and he was done crying and grinning like an idiot and running into her arms within seconds. She smiled her beautiful smile at her son and checked to make sure he was alright before taking his hand and waving goodbye to the dojo as they began walking out.

As she realized now might be her only chance to ask, Tatsuki ran over to Ichigo and grabbed him by the coat, holding on so he couldn't leave.

"Hey Tatsuki," he said with a smile. "What's up?"

"It's just," she said, not sure whether she really wanted to admit he was her only friend here and not sure she really wanted to invite _him_ , but she knew it was true. "Well... Would you come over to my birthday party next week?"

"Sure," he said with an even bigger smile, which seemed impossible to her.

Tatsuki smiled back at him, surprise causing her to give out an excited yelp as she hugged him and he laughed after the initial "Oof!" he gave out as she wrapped him up.

She suddenly couldn't wait until her birthday. She had invited her best friend over and her parents had tons of cool things ready for them to do. She didn't care that he was the only friend she'd have over, because he was the only friend she needed.

The next week seemed to her like it couldn't go by fast enough, but it flew by in reality. As the day neared, she heard weather reports saying that there was to be a large rainstorm on her birthday and all she could hope was that the weather would not deter her best friend from showing up. She was still ecstatically waiting for her birthday and, when she woke up and looked out the window, even the depressing rainstorm couldn't extinguish her excitement. She helped her mother clean the house for their guest and helped make lunch for when he was supposed to arrive and she even laid out her favorite toys and games for him to be impressed by when he got there.

The day pressed on and on, slowly ticking by the hours as she eagerly watched the door for any sign of her friend's arrival. She even ran to the window anytime people drove near enough to her house for her to think it might be him.

As it got late and dinner time swung around, she resolved that he must not be coming and, sadly, put away all of her things and went to her room, not going to the kitchen for her cake or birthday dinner, but sitting in her room, holding her legs tight to her chest as she began to cry. She heard the telephone ringing in the den and her mother pick it up. After a few moments of inaudible conversation, she heard her mother put the phone back on the receiver and knock on her door.

"Go away," she said between sobs. "I don't want to see anyone, right now."

"Sweetie, there's something I need to tell you about Ichigo," her mother said in a soft tone.

Tatsuki stood and unlocked her door, wiping her eyes as a small bit of light entered the room from the hallway.

"I don't care about him," Tatsuki said as she sniffled and tried to regulate her breathing. "He's not my friend. I hate him! I never want to see him again!"

"Tatsuki," her mother said, gently, as she picked her daughter up in her arms. "Masaki and Ichigo were found on the riverbank..."

Tatsuki's eyes widened as she realized what her mother was telling her. Fresh tears began to well and she could barely hold in the sobs as her mother held her closer.

"Ichigo's...?" she couldn't even bring herself to think it, much less say it.

"No," her mother answered. "He's not dead. His mother, however, was not so fortunate. The police don't know who or what killed her but she was dead lying defensively over Ichigo. All I ask is that you find it in your heart to understand and help him through this difficult time of his life."

Tatsuki looked up at her mother and sobbed a yes to her as she continued crying, not for herself any longer, but for her friend.

********BLEACH************

Tatsuki stood beside the river bank she'd seen him sitting at, all alone, so many times. She'd never been able to find the courage to go up to him and ask him how he was doing but so many nights she found him standing on that bank, searching for her and so many times she'd seen him curled up on the ground in the exact place where his mother had died protecting him, sobbing softly.

In the months following his mother's demise, Ichigo changed, and she noticed. He stopped going to karate training and would wander the streets alone all day, sometimes getting caught by lowlifes that would tease him for his hair color. His temper had gotten shorter and he began to get into fights with these kids, often getting his ass handed to him and walking home with more bruises and cuts each time.

As the years pressed on, his demeanor became colder and colder, his attitude just as shady as the thugs he beat up for being dishonorable pieces of shit just like he appeared to be. Tatsuki had always seen through it but had known, all this time, to let him have his space as he desired. Through middle school, she saw him getting in so many fights and she swore he just did it just for the hell of it. Every time she saw him as they crossed paths, and he was covered in bruises and cuts, she couldn't help but feel the pang of sadness and a desire to protect him.

After seeing him with a broken shoulder from one of his fights in their first year of middle school, she walked up to him and asked him what had happened but he coldly turned away from her, telling her it was nothing and proceeding on his way.

From that day on, she forced herself to work hard to keep from worrying about him. She had to be just as cold to him as he was to her so he would realize what a great friend he'd lost with his attitude.

More years passed of her forcing herself not to care about him and him being a lowlife scrapper, and, eventually, their ties had almost been completely severed. She'd ceased to care about him and his constant fighting and his injuries, and she had her own life with her own, new, best friend.

The problem was, this best friend, while having lost her brother and being new to the school, had developed a huge crush on Ichigo and Tatsuki couldn't help but be annoyed by her circumstances but, of course, despite that, Orihime was still her best friend and she couldn't let that change just because she was angry with the strawberry for all of his years of coldness towards her when all she wanted to do was help him.

They transitioned through middle school and into high school and, in their first year, something changed with Ichigo. Numerous times he'd begun to act funny and she'd noticed his many absences, along with the absences of her friend and a couple of the other students.

And now, after nearly two and a half year of high school, they were here. She'd learned of his entire life as a shinigami and had seen him stand up to the most powerful man she'd ever seen.

And she found, throughout that time where he and her friends disappeared often and for long periods of time, that her feelings of concern and sadness for her friend had never truly vanished, she'd just been suppressing them until she no longer felt them and now, they were there and they were stronger than ever.

She stared over the glimmering water of the river and sighed, deeply, as her thoughts rushed. She was sitting on the bench that overlooked the waters and, as she sighed, slightly sad at her thoughts and memories, she allowed her head to fall backwards and over the back of the bench. She opened her eyes and nearly had a heart attack as she found herself staring right at Ichigo.

"It's beautiful here," he said, nonchalantly. "Wouldn't you agree?" He cast his eyes on her.

"Um... Yeah.. I guess," she stuttered as she straightened on the bench and twiddled her thumbs, blushing slightly for some reason unknown to her. Ichigo took a seat next to her and stared at the water, still not in something warm, she noticed, annoyed.

"So what were you really doing around here?" he asked, not looking at her.

"Just going for a walk," she said, defensively. "I don't have to explain myself to you."

Ichigo nodded and continued looking out over the water silently. As she sat there, thinking about these past few years and months and how he hadn't told her anything, she began to feel enraged. She felt betrayed that he and her best friend couldn't even trust her enough to fill her in on what was going on. She felt hurt deeply that he would hide more from her and she found herself worrying about him, like she did after his mother died on her birthday.

"So," she said, trying to think of something to say.

"So..." he said, unsure of how to respond. "How's life been treating you?"

"Fine," she said, twiddling her thumbs some more. "And yours?" As soon as she said it she regretted it, knowing he'd lost his powers.

"Eh," he said, shrugging and still not meeting her gaze. "It's still going. Nothing really I can complain about. I made my choices consciously and now I'm paying the price for them."

"How?" she asked, honestly hurt that he would suggest that anything of what he was going through was fair. "What choices did you make that cost this much?!"

"Tatsuki-" he began.

"NO!" she screamed, standing up lightning fast, on the verge of tears. "That's bullshit and you know it! You don't deserve any of this!"

He turned and looked at her for the first time since the conversation began as she stood up.

"Tats," he said, soothingly. "Come here and sit down."

Tatsuki's fists were balled up so tight her knuckles were snow-white. Her body shook with her anger and sadness and she tried to hold back but found that she couldn't. Without thinking, she cocked back and punched him across the face.

"Ow!" he shouted, as the force knocked him to the ground where he clutched his face. "What the hell w-?"

Tatsuki's eyes watered and tears streamed down her face as she stood above him.

"Tatsuki..." he said, softly, standing up before her.

"No, Ichigo," she said, pushing him away so he couldn't console her. "It's not fair! And you're never going to be upset about it so someone has to be upset for you. All you can do is be the tough guy who has to carry all the world's burdens on his shoulders. God forbid you actually let your own feelings and emotions matter sometimes!"

He watched her screaming at him and shaking with anger and sadness as the tears streamed down her face and he cast his eyes down.

"I'm sorry," he said, turning his back to her yet again and beginning to walk back home.

"God damn it!" she screamed after him. "There you go again! You can't even show some simple fucking emotion or anything when I just clocked you in the jaw! For god's sake, Ichigo, just be upset about _something!_ I mean, none of what you've been through or what you're going through is _fair!_ Yet you just keep bearing it like it's your cross!"

"Because it is my cross," he said just loudly enough for her to hear. "I have chosen the life I lead and I made it what it is and myself what I am today. There's no going back, so there's no point in being upset over it."

"If you don't want to go back, that's fine," she said, still standing there, angrily shaking as the tears dried on her cheeks. "But just tell me why!"

Ichigo's brow furrowed as he was genuinely confused by her words now.

"Why what?" he asked, turning to face her.

"Why didn't you talk to me?" she asked, her knees becoming weak as she stepped towards him, slowly closing the distance. "Why you ignored me after your mother died? I just wanted to help you through it. Why you lied to me about all those fights and the injuries you got from them, like that broken arm?"

"I didn't talk to anyone about any of that," he said, slightly annoyed.

"But you were my best friend before she died," Tatsuki said softly, staring at him with fresh tears streaming down her gentle features. "You could've talked to me, and you just didn't."

He could feel the hurt in her words and didn't know what to say so he stayed silent, his back to her as she continued approaching him.

"Why didn't you tell me when you became a shinigami?" she sobbed out. "Why didn't you fucking tell me where Orihime was when she disappeared? I blamed you and said so many awful things to you!"

"I didn't want you to get involved, so you wouldn't get hurt," he said softly.

Tatsuki finally reached him and collapsed to her knees behind him as she clung to the back of his shirt for support.

"I was so worried about you all this time," she said, softly, clinging to his shirt as she sobbed. "Didn't that matter to you at all?"

Ichigo's eyes widened slightly as he heard this. He turned to face her and knelt down before her and hugging her.

"I'm so truly sorry," he said, holding her head to his heart while he rested his chin on the top of her head and her eyes widened in shock. "I'm so so sorry. I never knew how much it hurt you. From now on, though, I'll always keep you in the loop. I'm sorry for being such a terrible friend."

Her eyes watered again, even heavier than before and she clung to him like her life depended on it. As they sat there, she felt the years of worry and sadness and pain flowing out through her tears and she now knew that he is truly, and always was, her best friend.


	2. Chapter 2

**Bleach: Ichigo X Tatsuki  
Chapter 2  
**

Tatsuki stood silently in the hallway, waiting for her friends to arrive at school. She blushed lightly, remembering the day she broke down in front of Ichigo, showing him her concern and sobbing like an infant. She remembered holding onto his shirt, feeling his strength unwavering despite holding not just himself but her as well. She held out her hand, remembering clinging to him as though her life depended on it only a few days ago.

As she stood, silently lost in thought, Orihime quickly ran up to her, a cheerful smile written across her face.

"Tatsuki!" she yelled, waving her hand at her best friend as she ran toward her, breaking the brunette from her trance.

"Oh. Hey Orihime," she said, casually, stepping away from the wall. "What's up? Did you get your homework done?"

"I sure did," the auburn haired beauty said, sticking out her tongue and smiling. "Sorry I'm so late. I have just been so busy trying to get caught up with schoolwork from all the time that I missed."

"Alright," Tatsuki said, turning her back and looking at Orihime over her shoulder. "We're gonna be late so we should probably get going."

"But where's Ichigo?" Orihime asked, her smile fading as she stared at Tatsuki before beginning to look around for him.

"I dunno," Tatsuki said, trying to act like usual and putting a frown on as she scratched the back of her head, trying not to let Orihime see how worried she was about him. "Who cares where that orange-haired dumbass is? We have to get to class."

After they entered the classroom and the bell rang, Ichigo walked into the classroom, casually walking into the back door and going to his seat. He sat down and the teacher looked quizzically at him but decided she would lecture him and question him after class and began roll call. He had his usual annoyed look on his face as the day progressed and Tatsuki could tell he was thinking about something and she could probably guess what it was, so she decided to break the tension after their first class was over.

"Hey Ichigo," she said, walking up to him as he was about to stand up. "Did you bring that manga that I let you borrow a couple weeks ago?"

"Yeah, yeah," he said, annoyed, as he sat back down and rifled through his bag. As he hit something in the bag and pulled it out, he froze and Tatsuki couldn't tell what it was from behind him but she decided to continue acting like nothing was wrong.

"What? Did you lose it or something?" she asked, leaning over his shoulder, her face only inches from his.

"No," he said, the annoyance pushing aside whatever he'd been thinking about before and he replaced whatever item he'd had back into his bag before withdrawing the manga and handing it to her. "Here you go. Just as promised."

Tatsuki took the manga and stood up straight, but she couldn't help but stare at him, worry written on her tomboyish features momentarily before she walked away and allowed him to go talk to the teacher. She heard him explaining to the teacher about running into some stranger today that had been robbed and having beaten the robber up and allowing the man to get his belongings back from the guy. He apologized to her for being late and Tatsuki took that as a signal to leave before she was caught eavesdropping.

As she walked to the cafeteria, she saw Orihime running off, probably after some hollow or something. A pang of worry struck her as she watched her best friend running off to fight when she could not. As she was in the midst of these thoughts, however, she sensed someone approaching her from behind and she quickly turned and grabbed the person by the shirt and bringing her arm back, ready to punch him, out of reflex.

"What the hell, Tatsuki?!" came Ichigo's slightly strangled response as he looked down at her.

Her eyes widened and she released her hold on him.

"I'm so sorry," she said, holding her hands up at about shoulder height to show she'd relinquished her previous hostility. "It was just... reflexes... you know?"

"It's fine," he said, straightening out his shirt and brushing himself off. "Why were you just standing here?"

"I just..." Tatsuki began, unsure what to say but not wanting to tell the truth.

"Orihime will be fine," Ichigo replied, reading her mind but not looking at her again. He stared at Orihime himself, watching her running off to help whoever was battling the hollow and feeling the familiar pain in his heart as he desired to protect her, his family and all of his other friends. He felt his hand instinctively reach back and grabbing his substitute soul reaper badge and withdraw the item from his bag. He brought the badge up in his hands and stared at the pathetic little piece of wood that was, now, useless to him.

"Ichigo...?" he heard from behind him and turned his head back to see Tatsuki looking at him with concern. He quickly pocketed the badge and lifted his bag higher onto his shoulder before turning around and walking past her with a slight wave.

"I'm fine," he said as he walked off, trying to appear casual. "Anyway, we should be getting back."

Tatsuki frowned, concernedly, at Ichigo as he continued to walked on.

"Ichigo..." she thought with a sad glance down, before she followed him to the classroom silently.

*************BLEACH*********************

Shortly after class was over, Tatsuki walked over to Orihime with a slight smile.

"Hey Orihime!" she said as she shouldered her bag. "Ready to walk home?"

"Sure, Tatsuki!" the red-head answered with a big smile. She began to pack her bag with her books, mumbling something to herself about what she was going to make herself for dinner that night and Tatsuki grimaced as she heard the odd combination.

As the two began to walk out of the class, Tatsuki noticed Ichigo still sitting in his seat, staring out the window, his eyes sorrowful and his thoughts drifting to far off places. She felt his mind wandering to being a soul reaper and how he'd returned to his mundane life. As she stared at him for a moment, she felt uncertainty rise in her about whether or not to invite the strawberry to walk with them and help him get his mind off of things. She wanted to comfort him but, after so many years of distance between the two of them, she felt as though it were not her place. The uncertainty of the decision hurt her.

Suddenly, she felt her legs carrying her over to his desk and, before she could think clearly, she'd grabbed his bag and slung it over her free shoulder and turned to the door, bolting away while Ichigo sat in his chair, astonished. After his mind finally processed that she'd stolen his things, he bolted out of the classroom after her and Orihime, following them down the streets of Karakura until they all reached a four way intersection that was where they would all break away and go to their separate homes.

"You know, Ichigo," Tatsuki said with a smile as he grabbed his bag from the ground where she'd set it. "If you wanted to walk us home, you could've asked."

"Wha-?!" Ichigo said, incredulously. "You stole my stuff!"

Tatsuki stuck her tongue out and pulled one of her eyelids down as she mocked him.

"Seems like you've gotten a lot slower since the last time we raced," she said, not acknowledging what he'd said. "What do you think, Orihime?"

"Jeez, Tatsuki," she replied, gasping for breath as her long red hair fell before her. "I thought... I was going... to DIE!"

Tatsuki laughed out loud as the two panted. She missed having fun with them and, in her opinion, Ichigo's powers could stay gone and that wouldn't bother her one bit. In fact, if Orihime didn't have powers, then it would be absolutely perfect. She'd have both of them to hang out with and be happy with forever. As she thought these things, a sort of sadness swept over her but she hid it with her smile.

"No," she thought. "They're here now. Make the most of that."

"So, you guys," she said after they caught their breath and as Ichigo was about to walk away. "Why don't both of you come over to my place for dinner? We can hang out and play video games or whatever until dinner!"

Ichigo eyed the brunette suspiciously, his eyes and pupils narrowing as he began to look her over. As he did this, Orihime began to examine her friend as well, checking her head for injuries or anything, even lifting her arms and putting her lips to her forehead to check for a temperature.

"Tatsuki?" Orihime said, concerned. "You feeling alright? I mean, you never invite people to your place. You always insist that when we hang out, we go to my apartment."

"I know," Tatsuki said, brushing both of them off and putting her hands on her hips, giving them both a deep frown. "Can't I invite my friends to my place if I want to? I mean, it is MY place!"

"I mean, we haven't hung out since..." Ichigo began with a smile but it faded when he approached the end of his sentence, the sad memory overtaking the situation.

The silence grew, awkwardly, for a few minutes.

"So are you guys coming or not?" Tatsuki said, uncertain if she should bring them over anymore, after how awkward the situation had become.

"I will!" Orihime said, cheerfully, embracing her best friend and helping cheer her up a little. "What about you, Ichigo?"

Ichigo looked around, uncertainly, putting his hand behind his neck and looking away from them.

"Well..." he began, before Tatsuki, beginning to boil over, interrupted.

"Oh come on!" she shouted, angrily. "We all have the same amount of homework and I guarantee we can all get it done before tomorrow."

He looked at her, disappointed that he had no excuses; disappointed that he was even looking for excuses.

"Why am I trying so hard to avoid hanging out with them?" he thought. "I mean, all they've ever done is try to be your friend. Hell! Tatsuki was worried sick about you being in the soul society and hueco mundo and all that and this is the best you can manage for one of the people you've known the longest?"

"I guess," he said, after a few moments of deliberation. "But, dinner or no dinner, I'm leaving at eight thirty so I can get home before nine."

"Your dad gave you a nine o'clock curfew?" Tatsuki asked with a suppressed chuckle. "How lame."

"Oh shut up!" Ichigo said, groaning angrily. "I can just as easily go home and say bye here if that's how you're gonna be."

"Come on you two," Orihime said, holding up her hands and waving them to show that everyone needed to calm down. "There's no need to go and start fights."

"Oh, if he wants to go, I'll make him cry, just like when we were kids," Tatsuki said, holding up her fist at him.

"Pfft! Yeah right!" Ichigo said leaning towards her in her challenge. "You wish you could take me on anymore."

"We'll see once we get to my place," Tatsuki said, leading the two red-heads to her house.

"Finally," she thought with a smile. "About time they finished playing soul reaper!"

She felt a sad happiness flow through her, finally bringing her oldest friend and her best friend over to dinner.


	3. Chapter 3

**Bleach: Tatsuki X Ichigo**

 **Chapter 3**

The night was going well as the three teens all sat around the living room of Tatsuki's apartment, enjoying a nice meal and putting away their finished homework assignments. The three enjoyed a large pizza that Tatsuki had ordered and watched a random television show.

After all of them were finished eating, Tatsuki reached for the plates and began cleaning up.

"Here," Ichigo said, picking up the empty pizza box and the napkins and helping her stack up the three plates. "I'll help."

"Oh stop it Mr. Chivalry," Tatsuki said, playfully shoving him and taking the plates from his hand. "It's my place, I'll take care of cleaning it up."

"Fine," he said, allowing her to take the plates, but still grabbing the pizza box. "Where's your trash can?"

"The garbage can is outside next to everyone else's," she said, looking over her shoulder from the entryway to the kitchen, her short running shorts accentuating her hips as she stood in the doorway.

"Ok," Ichigo said, picking up all the trash and walking out the front door.

From her position on the floor, Orihime watched both of them walk out of the room and she smiled to herself as she felt her mind begin to wander, looking at everything in Tatsuki's home. After a moment, she got bored and walked into the kitchen, seeing Tatsuki running hot water over the dishes. As she was about to say something to her best friend, a sudden clap of thunder caught both of them off guard and they heard rain suddenly rushing down outside.

"Wow," she said, holding a finger up to her chin. "That was out of nowhere, huh?"

"Yeah," Tatsuki said, looking out the window.

The front door opened, and the two heard Ichigo walk in, mumbling curse words and groaning. As Tatsuki turned off the water in the sink, they both walked back into the living room to see a slightly wet Ichigo standing there, pulling off his shoes as he sat on the edge of the floor.

"Damn it," he said, loud enough for them to hear. "Stupid fucking weather."

"Ichigo, if you get my carpet wet, I'll be drying it with your clothes while you walk home nude," Tatsuki said, her expression dead serious.

"Yeah yeah," he said, waving his hand over his shoulder at him. "Look, can I borrow a towel or something? And maybe some slippers so my feet don't get your floor wet?"

"God, you're so fucking needy," she muttered, walking into her bathroom and reaching into the cabinet. As she walked back into the room, she tossed him the towel before walking back into the kitchen and cleaning off all three of their plates.

"By the way, I have soda, tea, or juice, if you guys want something to drink," she said as she rinsed the last plate and set it in the drying rack. As she set the plate in the dish rack, she heard Orihime gasp and, without drying her hands on the hand towel, she ran into the living room to see what was wrong only to feel her cheeks flush and she found her voice lost as she stared at the topless form of Ichigo as he dried himself. She looked over and found Orihime blushing furiously, one hand over her mouth and the other covering her eyes, slightly, but she could see her peaking through her fingers. Ichigo had the towel over his face so he couldn't see either of the girls gawking at him.

As Tatsuki was about to save face, she suddenly saw all of the scars. She felt her chest tighten and a small flame of anger burning deep in her heart.

"Hey, Hime, could you come here for a minute," Tatsuki called to her friend when she walked back into the kitchen.

"Uh.. Coming!" she stuttered and ran out of the living room, her face beet red as she entered the kitchen.

"Get a good view in their?" Tatsuki said, crossing her arms and smiling mischievously at her friend.

"W-w-w-what?!" she stuttered, blushing even deeper. She held her arms out in front of her and waved her hands at her friends as she closed her eyes and then brought her hands to her chest. "N-no! It's not like that! I mean, I wasn't looking!"

"Sure," Tatsuki said, smiling again before she looked away from her friend and Orihime could see the sadness in her face. "Hey, Hime?"

"Uh.. Yes, Tatsuki?" she said, cocking her head curiously.

"I know you already told me a lot about what happened to you guys," she said, slowly. "But... Well... I was wondering... Where did he get all those scars? I mean, all the things you told me, you never told me about the big almost perfectly round hole in his chest right where his collar bones meet..."

"Oh..." Orihime said, sadness flowing into her eyes. "That..."

Tatsuki could feel a her chest tighten even more as she saw the look on Orihime's face darken and she was about to ask again when Ichigo walked into the kitchen topless with the towel over his shoulders.

"What's going on in here?" he asked with a smile. He looked at Orihime and noticed the sad expression before she tried to hide it and smile at him and his smile faded. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" Orihime shouted almost over-zealously as she turned and smiled at him, clasping her hands behind her back as his trademark scowl took over his face.

"Tell me, Orihime," he said, frowning deeper.

"Well..." she said, holding her finger to her chin as she looked up and away from him.

"I want to know what all has happened to you in the last couple of years, Ichigo," Tatsuki blurted, her fists balled at her sides and her eyes squeezed tightly closed as she nearly yelled at him. "No... I _need_ to know!"

Ichigo's frown faltered for a moment and surprise nearly took over his expression before he frowned again, not as deeply as before but still deeply. He exchanged an uncertain glance with Orihime before he sighed and reached back, scratching the back of his head and groaning while leaning back with his eyes closed.

"Fine..." he said, after a moment. "But I'm warning you, a lot of the details will shock you."

Tatsuki smiled slightly at her victory and she and Orihime followed the topless orangette into the den where they promptly turned off the television and sat around the table in the center of the room. Orihime and Ichigo sat opposite one another with Tatsuki sitting next to Ichigo but between them.

"So which part do you want to know about? I haven't got enough time to tell all of it to you right now, and, besides, I know Orihime told most everything to you that she knew while I was asleep after the battle with Aizen."

"I guess," Tatsuki said, thinking about it for a moment. "I would like to know about what happened when you went to go rescue Orihime."

Ichigo sighed as he looked at Orihime, who avoided looking at him and her averted eyes were cast down in sadness.

"Well, after you saw me leave the shop, I went to Hueco Mundo, where she was being held," he explained. "Once I got there, I met some weird arrancar and they followed me and the others into Las Noches where we battled the fallen Espada in the lower levels. I had to hollowfy in order to even stand my ground against the one I battled."

"I see," Tatsuki said, her mind drifting and trying to imagine Ichigo in his hollow mask.

"Yeah. I was in pretty rough shape and this little former espada named Nel had followed me and she was being super annoying during every battle I got into," he said, a vein popping on his forehead as he remembered how annoying Nel had been. "Anyway, after I got through the whole former Espada's levels, I ran into the guy that took Orihime, named Ulquiorra Cifer. At first, he was pretty annoying but I didn't want to fight him if I didn't have to, so I tried to leave it at that. Then, he told me he was the one that took Orihime, and I just snapped. I knew that I had to get her back and I just kept striking at him. I finally decided to hollowfy, even though I could only do it for about eleven seconds at that time. He drew his blade but I was no match for him."

Tatsuki felt her chest tighten even more, if it were somehow possible.

"I tried to escape, but he figured out my tactic to escape and caught up to me easily. Next thing I knew, I was flying through another building and when I looked up, he was there," he said, his voice drifting away and his hand lazily drifting towards his chest where the hole had been. "Next thing I knew, he'd thrust his hand into my chest. I could feel everything breaking inside of me. He pulled his hand out of my chest and I collapsed to the ground. I don't know for sure what happened after that. Everything went black and I couldn't hear or see or feel anything anymore. I was sure I was dead."

Ichigo looked over at Orihime, who's eyes were puffy and tears streaming down her face.

"Then, I suddenly could feel again and hear. My sight returned and, when I looked up, Orihime was there with Grimmjow, the guy that beat the crap out of me twice in the middle of the city. When Ulquiorra showed up to stop him, he trapped him in a temporary prison and forced her to heal me so that he and I could fight. He wanted one last duel with me to prove he was the strongest."

Tatsuki could feel her hands clenched together so tight she had lost sensation in her fingertips. Her eyes were locked on some point in the distance as her mind projected the battle in her head.

"I agreed to battle him to get Orihime back. He and I battled for a little while with me just using my shinigami powers. I knew I couldn't survive unless I hollowfied but I also knew Orihime didn't know about my hollowfication and I didn't want to scare her. I chose to take the battle far from her so that she wouldn't get hurt. The battle went on and on for what felt like hours, and I was always on the defense for most of it. I started off doing pretty well but then he quickly showed me his resurrecion and, soon, I was getting my ass kicked. I knew I couldn't keep it up, and, before I knew it, he had made an attack that, when I dodged, was headed straight for Nel and Orihime."

Tatsuki's heart was racing as her mind kept running through images of what the battle may have looked like.

"I jumped in front of her just in time to save her from getting struck by three missiles. But, as I looked up at her, I knew she was terrified of me in my hollow form so I just told her to keep her shield up and not to move. I returned to the battle and was soon back into getting my ass kicked."

He laughed lightly at this but was quickly silenced by Tatsuki slamming her fist on the table and looking at him intensely.

"How is this funny?!" she yelled, not sure what was going through her mind.

"I just remember how weak I felt," he said, looking her in the eye and half smiling. "I can't remember ever feeling so weak. But then..."

"Then, Nel yelled at me for being afraid of him," Orihime piped in, her eyes still cast down. "I was afraid of the very man who'd come to save me, and all I could do was cower at the sight of him. After Nel said that, though, I realized that I needed to encourage him. So, I yelled to him... 'Please... Don't die!'"

Tatsuki looked at her best friend surprised and she found Orihime's eyes locked on Ichigo.

"You don't have to win," she said as tears began flowing down her face. "Just don't get hurt anymore."

"Oh, Hime," Tatsuki said, shuffling over to her friend and holding her as she began to cry from her memories.

"I'm sorry for causing everything to get so emotional..." Ichigo said, looking away, ashamed.

Tatsuki continued holding her friend's head to her chest and making soothing noises as the beautiful girl sobbed, not even acknowledging what he'd said. Feeling awkward, Ichigo stood, grabbing his wet shirt from the bathroom where he'd draped it over the edge of the tub. He quickly pulled the shirt over his head again and walked to the shoe shelves.

"Where are you going?!" Tatsuki nearly yelled as she held Orihime, who's sobbing had lessened significantly in the short time he'd gone to get his shirt.

"Home," he said, not looking back at her. "I won't cause any further emotional trouble, just take care of Orihime and I'll stop bringing up the past. Let's just go back to our normal lives, finally. Who cares about the stupid past anymore?"

As he stood and reached out, pulling the door open slightly, he heard feet hitting the ground hard as someone stomped over to the door angrily. He knew it was Tatsuki even before he saw her reach out and push the door closed, trying to trap him inside.

"Just who the hell said you could leave?" she said, putting her hands on her hips as she stood in between him and the door.

"Tatsuki, will you just get the hell out of the way?" he said, his frown returning and trying to step around her.

"No," she said, crossing her arms and leaning against the door.

"God damn it, I have to be home soon anyway," he said, looking angrily at the girl in front of him. "Besides, all I did was bring up sad shit that made Orihime cry remembering, so why bring it up anymore?"

"Because, god damn it! I wasn't there!" she screamed, her fists at her sides again as she met his eyes.

"You wouldn't have wanted to see those things... trust me," he said, averting his eyes.

"I don't fucking care! I wanted to be there with you, but all you said was that it didn't concern me!" she yelled, nearly bringing her hand back to punch him in the face.

"I was trying to protect you," he said, not meeting her eyes.

"I don't want your god damned protection!" she said, finally loading her arm back and clocking him in the jaw. He fell to the floor, his wet clothes messing up a small portion of her carpet but she didn't care.

"I know you didn't!" he yelled back, standing back up, quickly, and meeting her gaze. "I know you, Tatsuki! I know how much you hate being weaker than others! For so many god damned years you protected me and now that I can finally pay you back, I am not going to let you get fucking hurt!"

Tatsuki froze at this for long enough for Ichigo to open the door and walk out into the pouring rain, leaving his wallet and cell phone on her coffee table in his rush. She stood frozen, her expression confused and her heart clenching tighter than she could bear. She felt anger and hurt flowing into her, almost to the same levels she'd felt the last time she'd punched him in the face and she felt the shame at realizing how poorly she'd handled it again.

"Tatsuki...?" Orihime said, sniffling and wiping her tears, causing her to slowly look back at her best friend. "Why are you so mad at Ichigo?"

"I don't know," she answered, honestly. "I can't tell if it's because he's still trying to protect me because he thinks I'm weak, or if it's because he kept it all a secret from me for so long, or because I just couldn't do anything for you when I needed to be there most. I can't even really tell if I'm really mad at him or if it's something else."

"What do you mean?" she asked as the other girl walked over to sit next to her.

"I mean, I don't know if it's anger that I'm feeling or if it's just another emotion that I'm showing as anger," she explained. "I feel more hurt and worried than anything else. I mean, knowing all the danger you were in... and seeing all those scars?... I sometimes can't believe you guys made it out of that alive, you know?.."

"He didn't make it without dying," Orihime said, her eyes cast down as tears flowed down her cheeks again. "He died twice while we were in Hueco Mundo..."

"What?!" Tatsuki gasped, her eyes wide and her mouth agape in horror.

"Yeah..." she said, softly. "That time he was just talking about... He wasn't just close to death... He was actually gone..."

"Oh my god," Tatsuki said softly, her eyes filling with warm tears.

"And then, after he won against Grimmjow and we looked like we were going to be able to move on with our fight, I was suddenly taken again by Ulquiorra... Ichigo came for me, like I knew he would... But their fight was too intense for them to continue withing the castle of Las Noches, so they broke through the ceiling and continued their fight outside the dome. I don't know how bad Ichigo got hurt before I got there, finally, but Uryu managed to take me to him, just in time to see Ulquiorra in his resurrecion... He had his tail wrapped around Ichigo's throat and he was badly hurt... He looked back at me before he put a finger to Ichigo's chest..."

Orihime covered her mouth as she tried not to cry and Tatsuki could feel the tears flowing down her face as the images rushed into her mind.

"As I watched, he blasted a cero through Ichigo's chest..."

Orihime's eyes were wide as she spoke and her hands had drifted to either side of her head where her hairpins rested.

"Ichigo's eyes... They were so... distant... I screamed as his body dropped over a hundred feet to the ground and I put out my shield to catch him and then I tried to heal him..." Orihime's breathing had become ragged and she felt her body begin to shake as he knees nearly collapsed and she curled up into the fetal position. "No matter what I did, I couldn't close the hole in his chest!... I.. I couldn't save him!"

Tatsuki's heart raced and she almost was too lost in the moment to see her friend rapidly going over the edge. She quickly ran over to Orihime and grabbed the girl in her arms, holding her tight and stroking her hair.

"I screamed for him... I begged him to save me... And then... he became a monster..." she whispered, almost too softly for Tatsuki to hear. As she heard this, Tatsuki's blood ran ice cold and she tried to snap her friend out of it as she held her close and made soothing noises.


	4. Chapter 4

**Bleach: Tatsuki X Ichigo**

 **Chapter 4**

 _ ***Author's note:** Greetings to my faithful readers who are enjoying their IchiTats reading. I hope you have all enjoyed the story thus far. I have very much enjoyed thinking about, reading about, and trying to write about this pairing. I hope that you all enjoyed the show and manga as much as I did as well. Most of all, I hope you all can provide me with some feedback in a couple of polls I have created but, for some reason, this site will only let me have one of them up at a time so I will try to consistently alternate between the polls I've created and allow you all to express your opinions of Bleach. Anyway, to continue, I've been very distracted lately between my military life and reading the final chapter of Bleach as well as trying to keep up with as many of my ten stories I have written on here (and brainstorming for future stories) as I can. I will try to consistently give you all the same quality product I expect of myself and I hope you all expect of me. Thank you so much for your devotion and please enjoy the following chapter.  
_

The sun cast a soft morning glow into the homeroom of Tatsuki Arisawa as she sat in her seat thinking about the night before in her apartment. She remembered everything that had been said and she still shuddered at Orihime's words, '... he became a monster...'. Chills ran up and down her spine as she remembered the look on her face as she'd said that and she tried to forget it but the more she tried to forget it, the harder it became.

"Hey Tatsuki," came a soft feminine voice from behind her and she nearly jumped, turning to find Orihime standing behind her, wearing just as fake a smile as could be expected after the conversation they'd had.

"Oh. Hey, Hime," Tatsuki responded, forcing a smile as the beautiful redhead sat down next to her in the relatively empty classroom. It would be about another twenty minutes before the rest of the class was seated and roll was called.

The pair sat in awkward silence until class started.

As Tatsuki was about to get up and head to her second period class, she finally noticed Ichigo's seat was empty. She frowned and pulled her cell phone from her bag. As she walked through the hallway to her second period, she found Ichigo in her contacts and, reluctantly, pressed the call button. She brought the phone up to her ear and heard the tone for an unsuccessful call. Her frown deepened and she tried again, only this time, she was sent straight to voicemail, indicating his phone was either off or dead.

She quickly found Keigo and Mizuiro in her next class and, after class, she pulled them both out into the hallway and pinned them both to the wall with a handful of either of their shirts.

"Ok, where's Ichigo?" she asked, more than slight annoyance apparent in her voice.

"What are you talking about? Why do you think we'd know?" Mizuiro said, his face as blank as ever.

"Yeah. We don't get told anything," Keigo said, making a ridiculous face.

"Well when was the last time you guys spoke with him?" she asked, pushing them both harder into the wall.

"Yesterday in school," they both answered, making her finally release them. As she released them and they went on about their day, she turned to see Orihime staring at her, her hands clasped together against her chest.

"Where's Ichigo?" she asked, her eyes big and doe-like.

"I don't know," Tatsuki said, walking over to her friend and placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Hime. I'm sure he's just at home sick today or something."

"Yeah..." she said, her eyes distant and sad as she looked away.

Tatsuki's smile faltered as she, too, gazed off in the distance.

' _Where are you, Ichigo? We really need to talk_ , she thought as she lead Orihime to their next period.

As they entered the classroom, they encountered Uryu who had a particularly annoyed expression that he'd seem to be wearing since about a week before when some thugs from another school had come looking for Ichigo and he'd stood up to them along with Ichigo. She remembered hearing how Ichigo's boss had practically abducted him afterwards.

After class, she approached him as well.

"Hey, Ishida," she said, walking up to him as he stopped in the doorway and looked over his shoulder at her, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"What is it?" he said, annoyed.

"Well that's just a rude way to speak to someone," she answered, stopping a few feet behind him and placing her hands on her hips.

"You never talk to me unless you need to ask about something," he said, matter-of-factly. "Let me guess. You want to ask me if I know anything about where Ichigo is."

"Well...?" she said. "Do you?"

"No," he said, turning back and walking into the hallway.

"Wait!" she said, following after him.

"Look, Arisawa, I don't know nor do I particularly care where Kurosaki is," Uryu said, stopping but not turning around. "He is himself and I am me. I don't care to know how he chooses to spend his time now that he's got no powers."

"So you only cared about him when he had powers?" she shouted, her fists balled at her sides.

"No, but that was the only time he and I had anything particular in common. Now that we have no real commonalities between us, I see no value in knowing what he does with his free time," Uryu responded, irritatingly calmly. "Now, good day, Arisawa."

With that, Tatsuki felt her expression fall into a deep, hatred-filled scowl and it took everything in her power not to rush him and strike out at him for his comments. She chose to turn and walk the other way and find somewhere she could cool down.

Uryu glanced over his shoulder to look at the long-black hair flowing behind her as she walked away. His gaze became distant and concerned as he continued walking on, soon casting his eyes back to the front and walking out of the school since he'd already completed the classes he had to be at for the day.

**************************BLEACH**************************

Uryu stood atop a roof just down the street from Ichigo's house, ensuring no one could see him and reducing his reiatsu to nearly undetectable levels. He cast a critical gaze on Kurosaki's residence, sensing some small traces of Ichigo's reiatsu stirring within the house.

' _He should've lost all of his powers_ ,' he thought to himself as he held his chin in contemplation. ' _Yet I'm feeling his energy returning to the way it was before he encountered Rukia. At this rate, he'll be able to see ghosts again and interact with them within a couple of weeks; at most a couple of months.'_

As he was about to depart from the roof, he felt the uneasy sensation of being watched and turned to see a man standing on a telephone pole nimbly. The man held a book with a delicate bookmark sticking out, its end gently flapping in the slight breeze.

He smiled softly as he closed his book and leapt from the pole and, within a couple of strides, was standing a mere ten feet from him on the very same roof.

Uryu opened his mouth to begin questioning the man, but, to his astonishment, the man suddenly disappeared. If he were more of an amateur, he'd have surely lost sight of the man as he performed a move similar to Uryu's hirenkyaku to move at astonishing speeds. Without a moment's pause, Uryu quickly took off after the man.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked, having no difficulty keeping up with the man. "And why are you watching me?"

"Who said I was watching you?" the man said, smiling back at him as he suddenly held a sword in his hand where the book used to be.

Uryu watched the man suddenly coming back at him and he tried to dodge.

' _Shit! I should've known they'd be after Kurosaki! But why? Who are they?!'_ he thought as he tried, in vain, to dodge the blade that swung down onto him.

***************BLEACH******************

It had been five minutes since Orihime had sat down in his room and they'd been talking a little bit. She had just said she wanted to go home and he was about to walk her out, sliding on a pair of shoes and telling his sisters he'd be back soon, when there was a frantic knocking on his door.

"Ichigo!" he heard Tatsuki's voice from outside. Without a moment's pause, he sprinted to the door and opened it to see her standing there, covered in blood and holding a beaten and bloodied Uryu up with his arm over her shoulder and her arm around his waist. "Ichigo help!"

Without any further conversation, he had grabbed Uryu, somewhat roughly and heard the other teen groan. He quickly carried Uryu into the clinic and laid him out onto a sterile work table. Ichigo's mind switched into clinic mode and, as his father walked in, the pair began removing Uryu's upper half of his uniform. Ichigo grabbed peroxide, rubbing alcohol, and gauze, his calm demeanor keeping him from shaking in the least as he used compression bandages to absorb some of the blood. As he lifted the bandages away, he noticed the clear signs that these wounds were from a sword and his hands froze.

Noticing his son's change in demeanor, Isshin walked over to him and put his hand on his shoulder, pulling him away from the wounded teen.

"Ichigo, maybe it's best if you go and make sure Tatsuki's okay," he said, pulling his son away from the table as he began tending to Uryu. "And before you argue, just know I'm telling you to leave, not asking you to."

Ichigo, half prepared to protest, instantly retracted his hand and his objection when he saw the look in his father's eyes.

"Yeah," he said, his shoulders falling slightly as he turned and walked back out of the clinic and back into his house. He walked back into his house where he found Orihime checking on Tatsuki. As he walked into the kitchen, the two teens looked at him with wide eyes and he noticed all the blood on his shirt.

"is he ok?!" Orihime shouted, standing and running up to Ichigo as he noticed his shirt was soaked in many places with Uryu's blood. He looked back at Orihime's big soft eyes and averted his gaze.

"I don't know," Ichigo said, turning away from the girls as he explained. "The old man's working on him now..."

Without another word, Orihime ran into the clinic and left Ichigo standing alone in the kitchen with Tatsuki.

"Are you okay, Tatsuki?" Ichigo asked, glancing over at the girl over his shoulder.

"I'm fine," she said, despite looking a little shaken. "I just hope that Ishida will be ok..."

"Did you see what happened to him?" Ichigo asked, not noticing the quizzical gaze he got from Tatsuki as he put his hand in his pocket and felt the card he'd received the other day in his pocket.

"No, I didn't," she answered, staring at Ichigo. "Why?"

"Alright," he responded and walked out the door. "Do you want to borrow some clothes? I think I have some stuff that would fit you and, obviously, isn't covered in blood."

"Yeah," Tatsuki said, examining her clothes. "That's a good point. I'll probably go to Hime's house and grab a spare uniform or something so my mom doesn't notice I'm wearing a guy's clothes."

"Alright," he said, stepping towards the staircase when he felt a hand on his wrist.

"What are you planning to do Ichigo?" Tatsuki asked, holding him steadily in place.

"Nothing," he said, still not looking at her. "I couldn't do anything, even if I wanted to, remember?"

Tatsuki's eyes widened as he finally managed to get his arm free and she struggled to find the right words as he marched up the stairs to his room.


	5. Chapter 5

**Bleach: Tatsuki X Ichigo  
Chapter 5**

* _ **Author's Note:**_ _Sorry for the long silence, my beloved readers. Been very busy moving back to America after three long years away. I am currently working on updates for all of my stories, so if you're bored and waiting for the next chapter of this story, just know that there are plenty of other stories by me to go through in the mean time. I'm hoping now that my schedule is somewhat more predictable, I'll be able to keep up with my stories better. I hope that you will all forgive me and I hope that my stories are not disappointing any of you. I am trying to keep these stories as good as possible as practice for my original works that I am doing now. Also, I am rereading my stories to try to maintain consistency so please forgive me for my super-slow process._

Tatsuki slowly approached the Kurosaki household, uncertain of what to say. She was nervous he might hate her now, and she couldn't blame him. Everyone had so easily adopted Tsukishima into their memories without a second thought, even her, his oldest friend. She looked at the front door, uncertain of if she should knock or not. She felt her chest tighten slightly as she lifted her hand, reaching tentatively forward.

"Hey Tatsuki," Yuzu said, excitedly, as she ran up to the other girl from, what appeared to be, a grocery run. "What's up?"

"Oh... Uh, hey Yuzu," she said, smiling at the younger girl. "I just thought I'd come check on Ichigo... You know, see how he's doing..."

Yuzu met her eyes and smiled.

"Why don't you come on in and see him?" she suggested, using her free hand to grab Tatsuki's wrist and pull her into the house before she could resist.

As the two entered the house, they kicked off their shoes and Yuzu gently placed the cloth bags on the table before leaning her head from the kitchen and drawing in a big breath before shouting up the stairs.

"Ichigo! You have a visitor!" she yelled, turning to smile at Tatsuki.

Silence.

No reply or movement came from the upstairs bedroom as the two stood in the kitchen. Tatsuki's heart dropped as she helped the younger girl take the groceries out of the bag.

"Don't worry too much about it," Yuzu said, smiling as she set a hand on Tatsuki's. "I bet he's out chasing down hollows or something. He'll be back before dinner."

Tatsuki smiled at her and continued helping with removing the groceries from the bags until there were no more to be put away.

"Well," she said, smiling at the younger girl and turning towards the door. "I should probably get going. Need to go make din-"

Before she could finish, Yuzu caught the older girl by the hand and their eyes met.

"Why don't you stay here and have dinner with us?" Yuzu suggested. "I could really use some help peeling and cutting the potatoes for curry."

Tatsuki smiled warmly at her, knowing she didn't need the help, but thankful for the offer.

"If you're sure I won't be imposing," she answered, stepping up beside the girl. She noted how tall Yuzu was now and how much she'd grown.

The two began preparing ingredients for curry.

As they cooked, Tatsuki found her eyes drifting towards the stairs or losing focus. She was glad when her work cutting potatoes had ended but, now, Yuzu needed no further help and she found herself sitting in the den, silently staring at the stairs again, hoping for him to come down soon. She felt her heart flutter slightly as she peaked into the kitchen, noting how engrossed in her work Yuzu was, before she made her way, silently, up the stairs to the door with the number 15 on a hanging sign on the door. She softly knocked, with no response. She felt her heart racing as she reached for the handle, twisting it slowly, silently.

She opened the door just as quietly and stepped into the room, noticing Ichigo's sleeping form lying on the bed. She could tell he wasn't just sleeping by the lack of breathing, reasoning that he must be out stretching his legs as a soul-reaper. She walked into the room and quickly rolled his chair next to the bed, sitting in it and watching him, thinking about all the things that had happened to him in the last two or so years of his life. She remembered all the stories about his battles and, even, seeing surveillance footage of the battles from some of Hat N'Clogs' remote cameras he'd set up to monitor Ichigo's progress.

She looked down at the tall orange-haired boy, thinking about how much of a crybaby he once was and how much he used to annoy her. She smiled, remembering the way he used to smile and laugh whenever he saw his mother after a long day of crying and being beaten by Tatsuki.

She reached a hand out and ran her fingers through his soft, yet spiky hair.

"Um..." a voice came from behind her, causing her to jump out of the chair and stand bolt up-right before turning to see Ichigo in his soul-reaper form standing behind her. "What're you doing here, Tatsuki? And what were you doing there... just now?"

"I wasn't doing anything you idiot!" she yelled, feeling her cheeks flush slightly. "What the hell took you so long, anyway?!"

"There was a pretty tough hollow," he said, absent-mindedly, still too thrown off by what he'd seen to really know what to say. "Why are you in my room?"

"I wanted to make sure you weren't ignoring me," she answered, turning her back to him. "Now that I know, I'll just be going to finish making dinner."

With that, she brushed past his shinigami form and walked out the door, leaving Ichigo with a confused eyebrow raise as she left him to return to his body.

Once he'd returned to his human body, he walked downstairs to find Yuzu and Tatsuki finishing dinner and setting the table. He saw the door open and watched Karin walk into the room and a smile burst on her face as she saw Tatsuki. Isshin followed and made a commotion about her being there and how she'd grown into such a beautiful young woman.

He smiled as he watched them, standing near the entrance to the living room from the kitchen.

"Ichi-ni!" Yuzu yelled over her shoulder, not noticing her brother was downstairs yet.

"Yeah?" he shouted back, causing her to jump a little and look back at him with her cheeks puffed out indignantly.

"Dinner's ready," she said, slightly annoyed and looking back at her work. "Don't make the guest set the table alone."

He laughed softly as he stepped up to the cupboard and grabbed some dishes to help set the table.

********BLEACH**********

The night air was slightly brisk as the two walked back to her apartment, silence pervading the air between them. Ichigo looked at the stars with his hands on the back of his head as Tatsuki's eyes looked down at the ground. She briefly glanced up at him before looking back towards the ground.

"Shit!" he said, suddenly, causing her to snap her head up and look around for some sign of a hollow or something.

"What?!" she yelled, still looking around, to which he laughed. She looked at him with a confused frown. "What is it?"

"I totally forgot to grab the leftover curry Yuzu wanted me to give you," he laughed.

Tatsuki's frown deepened as she walked up to him, punching him hard in the arm.

"Hey!" he shouted, indignantly, as he rubbed the sore spot. "I didn't mean to freak you out!"

"Yeah, whatever," she said, continuing her walk home. "You can just bring it to school tomorrow anyway."

"That's true," he said, nodding. "But why did you want me to walk you home?"

"Is it wrong to want to walk home with your childhood best friend?" she asked, looking into his eyes as they walked.

"No it's just-"

"If you'd rather go home, no one's stopping you," she said, giving a final 'Hmph'.

"Jeez," he said, under his breath while shaking his head.

The two continued walking until they reached her apartment. Once there, she stopped and stood silently outside her door.

"Well," he said, turning to begin his walk home.

"Ichigo?" came Tatsuki's voice as his back faced her. He turned to see her beautiful eyes locked onto him, and they appeared to have tears building in them.

"Whoa.. Uh.. What's wrong?" he asked, looking at her worriedly.

She couldn't quite find the words as she faced him, her heart breaking.

'Have you forgiven me?' she thought. 'Why have you been so nice to me today?! I betrayed you... We all did!'

Her words failed her and all she could manage was a strangled whimper as tears started rolling down her face. Ichigo responded by closing the distance and catching her in his arms, leaving a gap between them so he could look into her eyes.

"What's going on?" he asked as he felt her shaking with silent sobs in his arms.

"How?" she managed, before she bit back more sobs.

"What?" he asked, genuinely confused.

She gathered her composure and looked straight into his amberish-brown eyes. She took a deep breath and spoke clearly and concisely as she could manage, biting back sobs as she went.

"How can you act so kindly to me?" she asked, confusing him even more.

"You're my friend, Tatsuki," he said, shaking his head as he looked into her eyes. "Why would I not be kind to you?"

"Ichigo..." she said, dangerously, looking sternly at him. "We all betrayed you... All of us..."

Ichigo's eyes widened slightly as he realized what she was talking about. He pulled her slightly closer and held her head to his chest, letting her listen to his beating heart.

"Tatsuki," he said, calmly, stroking her head as he held her. "None of that was your fault or anyone else's. You were all manipulated by Tsukishima's power."

"But we betr-" she was cut off as he pulled her into his arms again.

"No," he said, firmly. "It wasn't your fault."

Tears welled up in her eyes as he held her and he felt her arms, which had limply fallen to her sides through most of it, wrap themselves around him, her hands taking hold of his shirt, tightly, and pulling him even closer. He felt a pair of damp spots forming on his shirt where her tears soaked into the fabric and he rested his cheek on her head.

The two remained like that for a few minutes before Tatsuki managed to gather her composure and wiped her eyes. She looked up into his eyes and he smiled.

"Feel better?" he asked, to which she nodded. "Alright. Have a good night, okay?"

"Text me when you get home," she said, wanting to hug him again but not being sure of it. Before she could even ask, he'd taken a step forward and wrapped his arms around her.

"I will," he whispered as he held her. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."

As they parted, Tatsuki put a hand to her chest, feeling the frantic pace of her heart's beating. She took a deep breath and tried to gather her composure as she found her keys and entered the home.


	6. Chapter 6

**Bleach: Tatsuki X Ichigo  
Chapter 6**

Tatsuki sat in school again, chewing on her pencil's eraser as she tried to contain her anxiety. It had been days since she'd seen Orihime or Ichigo, again, but this time she felt so much more on edge and she couldn't figure out why at all. Day in and day out she felt chills down her spine as she tried to contain herself; the only things distracting her were the constant rumors about delinquency and worse about her friends, which she stomped out all too eagerly as they arose, by any means necessary.

At the peak of her anxiety, she'd sought the counsel of one Kisuke Urahara, known only to her as Hat N' Clogs, but when even he had proven to be absent from his shop, her heart dropped and the anxiety increased. She had neglected her martial arts ever since and at night she sat alone in her room clutching her pillow and scrolling through her phone, waiting for a text from Orihime to tell her to come over and tell her all about the most recent adventure.

Things continued in this way until, one day, she was staring out the window to her class, lost in thought, when a large, pink, flowery kimono fluttering around a man with a large sugegasa atop his head. She frowned slightly, knowing he was from soul society but uncertain as to the reason he could be there. He glanced towards her as she stared at him and he gave her a somewhat warm look, which turned her blood to ice.

She quickly dismissed herself from class, followed by Keigo and Mizuiro, who each could tell something was up.

"Tatsuki," Mizuiro spoke, his voice louder and harsher than intended as he was nearly running to keep up with her quick pace. "What's going on? Did you hear some news? Is something wrong?"

"I don't know, ok?" she said, her voice cracking slightly before she cleared her throat and coughed. "I don't know, but someone from soul society is here and wants to talk to us."

The two young men looked at each other with a look of understanding was shared between them before they continued out the front doors and into the courtyard before going outside the wall around the school where they found the man, his long ponytail flowing in the wind along with his flowing garments.

"Good afternoon, kids," he said, smiling warmly at them as they rounded the corner on him.

"What's wrong? Did something happen to Ichigo?" Keigo asked while Tatsuki stood simply staring at the captain as they spoke.

"No no, he's fine," Head Captain Kyoraku spoke, a gentle smile still adorning his features. "However, I have come to give you these."

With that, he withdrew three tickets from his sleeve and presented them to the teenagers, who each took them and looked over them before he spoke again.

"You see, Ichigo's most recent training may have pushed him to a new level we've never seen before." Kyoraku read the expressions of Keigo, but Tatsuki and Mizuiro were mostly expressionless, still staring at the tickets. "As such, we fear that this new power of his may have made it so that he is unable to live in the world of the living anymore, and will have to have permanent residence in soul society with us."

"Oh you'd like that, wouldn't you?!" Keigo burst out, lunging forward while Mizuiro grabbed his arm in a gesture of restraint. "You guys get to keep calling on Ichigo to solve all of the problems you've got and all you keep doing is asking for more!"

"I do understand your opinion of us, and it isn't completely incorrect, but we couldn't have survived without him, and we never forced his hand," Kyoraku addressed Keigo calmly, a small hint of annoyance disguised in the undertones. His eyes drifted towards Tatsuki who was still staring solemnly at the ticket. "There's no reason to be sad," he proclaimed, causing her eyes to look up at him again. "The chances of this happening are one in five hundred thousand."

Keigo was about to burst in again but he silenced himself as Tatsuki spoke to him finally.

"Have you given tickets to his family?" she asked, her voice dangerously calm.

"I just came from giving his sisters theirs," he replied, a small twinkle of remorse and sadness in his eye as he spoke.

Tatsuki looked at him and nodded, displaying her thanks to him.

"Cheer up," he shouted at the teens. "He's most likely coming home to be with all of you again. Besides, even if he doesn't, you can come to soul society as many times and whenever you like with those tickets! So you'll be able to see him as often as you want!"

As he finished this statement, Tatsuki turned her back to him and began walking back towards the school. His eyes followed her as she walked back, completely ignoring the two young men in front of him. He felt a slight tightness in his chest as he watched her go and he grabbed the bill of his sugegasa and tilted it down as he walked down the street to find a good place to open a senkaimon.

*****BLEACH*****

Keigo and Mizuiro walked together with Tatsuki, Keigo still ranting in his usual manic fashion and constantly nudging the other two for some sort of affirmative responses to what he was saying, but she found herself not even able to get annoyed enough at him to tell him to shut up, instead, she found herself walking home in a trance-like state, feeling as though the world was disconnected from her. Everything felt distant and getting even further and her mind was racing as she held the ticket in her hand.

Within a few minutes, Mizuiro and Keigo were both about to go their separate ways from her and she was still engrossed by the small piece of paper in her hand. The two young men glanced at each other again before each clapped one of her shoulders, and, without saying another word, left her to her own mind. They had learned that trying to help her think about things often lead to painful experiences and they chose, wisely, to avoid those.

As she watched both of them fade into the distance going home, she looked down at the ticket in her hand again, her mind racing as she tried to convince herself everything was going to be alright, but the more she tried to convince herself of that, the faster her heart raced and the more she felt that she was wrong.

As her heart raced, she found herself sprinting, but to where, she wasn't sure.

She watched her apartment fly by and the setting sun on the edge of a bridge.

Her chest tightened again as she ran faster, her lungs screaming at her to stop, but her heart twisting even harder, screaming for her to run further, faster; to run away from it all.

Finally, her legs carried her to the one place she should've known was her heart's true destination...

The river.

The same river where she finally broke down how much she cared for him.

The river she'd painted for him for his birthday.

The river where she'd done everything she could to save him from his own demons.

The river where she'd finally succeeded.

Would this be the same river she lost him in?

She found herself gasping for air, her hands on her knees as she stared at the sparkling, glinting sunlight being reflected off the water. The water drew something out of her she had felt so few times before, but so many times recently, and she collapsed to her knees as she clung her hands together to her chest.

This was why she'd wanted to become a fighter. She didn't want this kind of pain to hurt her. She wanted to be able to take any hit and keep going. She wanted, more than anything in the world, to be immune to pain.

Her vision blurred as she raised her head from its ever lowering posture, and, as the pain in her soul became too much to bear, she let it out in a wail so full of sorrow, but mostly anger and regret, that it shook her to her very core. She screamed out long and hard, staring at the setting sun, clinging her hands to her chest as she did so, holding that one last connection she had with him closer. Her whole body shook and her face turned red as mucus started to come from her nose and tears flowed like waterfalls down her cheeks. The force with which her cries were forced out exhausted her and her body squeezed them from her like toothpaste.

Suddenly, a large hand rested on her shoulder in between wails and she lifted her head to see Isshin Kurosaki standing above her, adorned in his captain's robe.

"Mr. Kurosaki?" she weakly croaked out, her brow furrowed in confusion at his appearance.

"It's not best to speak here," he said, giving her a small, comforting smirk as he spoke. "We wouldn't want people to think you're crazy and talking to yourself."

She remained confused momentarily before she realized he was actually legitimately a soul at the moment and not just playing dress up.

"You're a-" she began before he held his finger to her lips and made a shushing sound.

"Please keep this a secret from the girls," he said, holding his hand up as he bowed and smiled, embarrassed. "They don't know their old man is a former soul reaper."

Tatsuki nodded slowly, her understanding.

"Why don't you head to the clinic and I'll talk to you there, ok?" he offered.

She smiled and wiped her eyes and nose with a handkerchief before he smiled to her and disappeared.

*****BLEACH*****

"Wow..." Tatsuki said, her mind rushing a million miles a second as she tried to process all he'd told her.

"Yeah," he agreed, nodding slightly as he poured a cup of tea for his daughters, who would be home any second with dinner and topped off Tatsuki's.

The two sat in silence for a moment as Tatsuki sipped her tea and thought about what she'd been told.

"He was surprised too," Isshin said, smiling solemnly as he sipped his tea.

"When did you tell him?"

"A day or so ago."

Tatsuki stood up lightening fast, but her hopes were dashed just as fast.

"He's already gone back," his father stated. "He had to. Otherwise, this will never truly be over."

The front door opened and a somber Yuzu and Karin could be seen walking into the house carrying some fast food bags. They saw her there and offered weak smiles but the two girls couldn't hold back and cried into her arms as she let a few tears of her own fall onto their heads while they all held each other. Even Isshin's usually wild and strange antics weren't present as he walked around the table to hold his girls.

The family had their dinner and Tatsuki sat with them, all silent as they felt the thoughts of his safety flowing between them all. Once dinner was done, Yuzu began to clean dishes and Karin rinsed them before Tatsuki dried them and put them away.

Once the chores were done, Yuzu made a statement about going to bed and Karin sat in a chair in the den, her arms folded and her eyes distant as she thought about something, and Tatsuki could see the sadness welling in them again and knelt down beside her chair.

"You ok?" she asked, knowing it wasn't the best question to ask but knowing she didn't have many better options.

"No..." she spoke softly. "I'm so damn angry and sad and I just don't know what to do with it all..."

"Well you don't need to be angry or sad," Tatsuki said, brushing her hair from her face. "Ichigo always wins, so he'll be back to us."

"But he shouldn't have had to fight in the first place!" Tears fell down Karin's face as she yelled and her dark eyes met Tatsuki's. "I was trying so hard with Mr. Urahara..."

"Trying to what?" Tatsuki asked softly, looking deeply into her eyes.

"I was training myself so that I could protect him, Stupid Ichigo..." she said, crossing her arms and looking away as she sat back. "But I wasn't strong enough... and now he's got to risk dying for it again..."

Tears began to fall down her face and her nose started running as she sniffled with every other breath. Tatsuki held her close when, suddenly, Yuzu and Isshin joined again, and, stroking Karin's hair, they both took turns reassuring her.

"You have been so strong for him that he knew you could handle yourself," Isshin assured. "He never fought your fights and he isn't now, sweetie. Ichi's fighting for more than you, Yuzu, or any of us. He's fighting for everything."

"You have always been the strongest person I know," Yuzu said, clinging to her as she spoke. "I always wanted to be as strong and brave and confident as you."

Karin curled up even tighter and cried as the trio tried their best to reassure her for nearly ten minutes before she finally became too exhausted to keep going.

After she'd walked with each young girl to their room to talk to them before bed, she finally returned downstairs to see Isshin sitting at the table holding a photo of Masaki in one hand and resting his chin in the other.

"I hope he comes home soon," he spoke, to no-one in particular, but cast his eyes towards Tatsuki as he continued, "Those two will break if he doesn't."

"We all will..." Her eyes drifted down and she made her way to the door. She opened it and looked back at Isshin but he was back to running his thumb over the photograph of his late wife.


End file.
